Yes, that’s the extraordinarily talented and seasoned actress Helen Mirren, a woman of many monikers, talking to Harper’s Bazaar.
There’s “dame,” of course, which she was officially named by Queen Elizabeth II 15 years ago, for an acting career that has spanned more than five decades, starting with the Royal Shakespeare Company in the late 1960s. There’s “Oscar winner.” That happened in 2007 for playing Queen Elizabeth in The Queen. (Don’t forget: She has a Tony, an Olivier, and several Emmys too.)
There’s also “sexpot,” a sobriquet that refers back to early, occasionally barely clothed performances in movies like Caligula (1979) and Age of Consent (1969) and still trails Mirren today, at the spry age of 73. And many would consider her something of a no-nonsense ballbuster. She continues on that tough-as-nails path this month as the villain in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms, a Disney fantasy film based on an E.T.A. Hoffmann story. But here’s a description of Oscar-winning sexpot Dame Helen Mirren you probably didn’t imagine you’d ever hear: “scaredy-cat.” And it’s actually Mirren’s own.
Here’s Some:
QUOTES
On being a self-proclaimed scaredy-cat: “I consider myself a scaredy-cat… Yes, oh, yes. I’m constantly nervous. I’m always worried that I’m not going to do it right. But you have to just jump and then the adrenaline kicks in.”
On her upcoming role of Mother Ginger in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms: “The costumes! My God! Every costume is a complete work of art. I’m eternally fascinated and impressed by the artisanal craftsmen behind the camera. You walk into the studio and you’re in a forest. It smells like a forest. It looks like a forest. It’s extraordinary. I was just dying to take photographs. But Disney is very, very secretive, and you can’t take photographs.”
On her excitement to finally play a villain (in The Nutcracker and the Four Realms): “She’s fabulous and funny, and becomes bitter and angry. Women get to play much cooler villains these days… But I’ve always had a secret ambition to play a villain in a James Bond movie.”
On the royals and the queen—in spite of many years playing the queen of England: “I don’t care that much, though I do watch The Crown. I just think it’s beautifully realized… In her old age, [the queen] has that indomitable spirit. I love her. I’m not a royalist; I’m a queenist.”
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/helenmirren
FASHION CREDITS
Top: Valentino
Earrings: Van Cleef & Arpels